My family is going to be in the area next week staying near Weirs Beach. I have found a place to rent some paddle boards but they are somewhat elusive on where to actually use them. Is there a good publicly available place for novices to go pale boarding on the lake?

Leavitt Town Beach, Meredith; launch from the little dirt road, kayak access launch, from the back of the parking lot. This is off route 25, close to the Meredith - Center Harbor town line..... watch closely for the small green sign, Leavitt Park, atop a post on Rt 25, at the curve in the road....on the right......it comes up fast....just beyond the Saint Charles Borromeo Church (on the left). For maybe 200-yards to the left of the Leavitt public beach, the waterfront is all trees and forest, and owned by the Town of Meredith so you get to paddle board a public shoreline as opposed to the usual Winnipesaukee private homes shoreline.

Lake Winnipesaukee is basically 100% built out with private homes, all along the shoreline, so you need to be a detective to find public shoreline like what's at Leavitt Park-Beach.

Plus, you can paddle board out and around the rope swim line at the town beach there.....and use the beach facility for swimming.

Leavitt Park Beach, Town of Meredith; price-no charge
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Cattle Landing town dock, Meredith: way down Meredith Neck Rd, about six miles from the big intersection in Meredith: On weekends, the dirt parking lot which holds about 50-cars can be totally full, but on weekdays there are plenty empty spots.

The water entry spot is very close to the parking lot, so just park, and hit the water, down the small grassy embankment, next to the town dock. Suggest you travel to the right, and head for Horse Island which is small, about 1/8-acre, and unoccupied, with just an ancient foundation from a cottage that burnt down in about 1940, and lots of trees .... with maybe a bald eagle or two, perched up top.

price-no charge
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Weirs Beach, Laconia; sup paddle boarding:

The Weirs Beach public beach: be sure to bring enough quarters to feed the kiosk meter, at two dollars/hour. Park close to the Weirs Beach channel, and the channel itself has a slow current and heavy motorboat traffic moving at 6-mph, no wake speed, so you probably want to avoid the channel, and sup paddle board to the left, traveling just out beyond the swim line at the public beach, and up towards the Mount Washington(large white cruise ship) dock spot, a few hundred yards away. By staying within the shore and the off-shore marker buoys, you are more or less, good to go as far as the motorboats are concerned.

price: 8-quarters/hour in the parking meter
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If anyone is thinking about buying a sup paddle board, check out the $349 inflatable paddle boards at walmart.com or amazon.com ...... weight; 19.8-lbs, and with their central carry handle, it is relatively easy to carry along, under your arm, while walking, which is a very useful feature......capacity; standing weight, 209-lbs; capacity; sitting or kneeling weight, 308-lbs, size; 10'10"x 30"x 6", inflated to 15-lbs pressure, plus you need a long, adjustable sup paddle, sup leg leash recommended, and a pfd - NH boat law. Basically, one can inflate at start of season, transport on car roof rack or in boat, and deflate at end of season for storage(?). www.aquamarina.com

As the extremely scenic, olde Route-3, Daniel Webster Hgwy winds along the shoreline of Paugus Bay, just south of Weirs Beach and the very excellent Liliukalanis' Ice Cream & Coffee stop, you will quickly come to the City of Laconia's tourist info booth/cabin, 937 Weirs Blvd, which is also an excellent spot to park your car, and launch a sup paddle board onto the very clean waters of Lake Winnipesaukee (imagine serene music here).

While making your way down the steep 15' embankment drop-down to the water, may be challenging for some, it's a steep, gnarly mix of rocks, roots and erosion that is doable for the athletically inclined while carrying a 20-lb, light weight, 11' long, inflatable paddle board, sup paddle, and pfd. Once in the water, this lake entry area has a flat, sandy bottom with water 2' shallow that's good for getting started onto a paddle board.

Parking: The Laconia tourist info booth has a dirt parking lot with an old, worn out sign that says 'Parking', maybe posted in place since 1957(?), so you can park your car for no charge, and go hit the water, just down the steep and challenging embankment, 15'-descent. Maybe I'm wrong but it seems like this info booth is always closed what with people today using the internet for their info?

Once in the water, you are far enough south and away from the motorboat activity, in a wide open 'bay water' area, so's you are probably safely away from all the motorboats traveling through the weirs channel.

It is a totally super-duper City of Laconia, municipal property, situated directly on the beautiful calm, clean waters of Paugus Bay that includes a short, steep 15' path to lead you to some good sup paddle boarding! You definitely want to drop on in with your paddle board here!

Maybe the city could do a little work on the embankment access here to make it more paddle board, user friendly ... like build a couple wide steps into the steep, grassy pathway?

Is it legal to be doing this? This is probably a gray area of opinion, not black or white, but gray, where if you went and asked at City Hall ...... you would probably be told 'no way!' .....but if you just go do it ..... it seems like there are no laws, or posted rules being violated, since there are no posted rules. All that is there is a sign that says 'Parking' and the usually closed, maybe permanently closed(?), old school, tourist information booth with its' super-duper s.u.p. paddle board access location, and small parking area.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, a s.u.p. paddle board is usually considered to be a vessel, which means that a pfd with a whistle needs to be on board, and maybe worn, depending on the user's age..... worn under age-13 in NH .... New Hampshire boating law.

Any boat launch would work. Just be careful, when you say novice I shudder a little bit. I see people out on those boards 100's or even 1,000s of feet from shore without a lifejacket on or even a lifejacket on the board. Most people grossly overestimate their ability to swim. Be careful.

Well like most fads... hopefully this one will pass quickly as most people don't realize how stupid they look out there trying to balance themselves on a fundamentally unstable platform and paddle themselves around - even better make a nuisance of themselves by going into areas of high traffic and chop and yard sale in the way of everyone. Brilliant! So many Darwin award winners in the making.

For now guess we have to put up with them since it's the "thing to do" at the moment.

Well like most fads... hopefully this one will pass quickly as most people don't realize how stupid they look out there trying to balance themselves on a fundamentally unstable platform and paddle themselves around - even better make a nuisance of themselves by going into areas of high traffic and chop and yard sale in the way of everyone. Brilliant! So many Darwin award winners in the making.

For now guess we have to put up with them since it's the "thing to do" at the moment.

Even by our group's standards, you've got to be pretty thin skinned to fret about a SUP. It's a silent, no wake, no pollution pastime, and they're almost always hugging the shore. I haven't yet had a stupid or rude SUP pilot in my path, but when I do, I'll be grateful that he's not at the helm of something more powerful.

Well like most fads... hopefully this one will pass quickly as most people don't realize how stupid they look out there trying to balance themselves on a fundamentally unstable platform and paddle themselves around - even better make a nuisance of themselves by going into areas of high traffic and chop and yard sale in the way of everyone. Brilliant! So many Darwin award winners in the making.

For now guess we have to put up with them since it's the "thing to do" at the moment.

I never, ever go to Wolfeboro, and have no experience with this paddle board venue, but looking at the website, it seems like a good place to go?

For $40, you get the equipment and one hour lesson with an instructor in a small class......out on the water, somewhere?

Any good ice cream store nearby?

Yes, they're right on Back Bay (or Front Bay, if you're into history). Once you're proficient, you can paddle under the Main Street bridge and into Wolfeboro Bay.

For ice cream, right there in the Durgin Stables complex, there is Topperz. Down the street a bot is Bailey's Bubble. Down on the docks is the Dockside Grille. And WAAY up the road is Morrisey's Front Porch.

Many good suggestions here but,if you are new to paddleboarding I wouldn't go anywhere near Weirs Beach.Huge boat wakes from the parade of boats leaving the channel and traffic is crazy.

All depends what a paddle boarder is looking for? For the newbie novice, probably good to stay away from this spot, just out beyond the rock jetty and swim lines at the beach, there.

For the sup paddler looking for some waves to ride, could be a good challenge to try riding the motorboat wakes, somewhat like an ocean wave. Two city lifeguards are seated on their tall beach seats there, while you paddle out and around the rock jetty, to the left, just beyond the swim line in that area that's very empty of motorboats.....just yards away from all the motorboat traffic in the very busy weirs channel.

For 8-quarters/hour in the parking meter there at the beach parking lot, it sure is a very convenient and scenic location to unload your sup and hit the water.

Unlike waterskiing or wakeboarding, an in-the-boat observer is probably(?) not legally required in New Hampshire for this paddle board activity what with no tow line in use towing the paddle boarder .... but, an observer certainly would be helpful.

My guess; the unseen motor boat is moving along at about five to ten mph, which is too slow to get the boat up on plane. This has got to be the safest water activity ever invented ...... in the world history of water ..... especially without a pfd?

Here's my two cents; for the price of twenty five dollars/two hour rental. the www.divewinnipesaukee.com store in Wolfeboro seems like it may be the best value with an excellent location on the lake? As far as I can tell, they do not offer paddle board lessons, and just do rentals at a relatively low price compared to other paddleboard venues.

Would like to get some feedback on Winni Diver's paddleboard rentals in Wolfeboro?